Someone to lean on
by JuanLMejiaG
Summary: After solving a murder case, Judy and Nick get involved into an intense political debate, which risks their friendship and leads them to reveal feelings they were hiding long time ago.
1. Chapter 1:The Tigerwild case

**I DO NOT OWN ANY OF ZOOTOPIA CHARACTERS; I MADE THIS WORK ONLY TO ENTERTAIN AND NOT TO PROFIT.**

Hi everyone! This is my first publishing, and since I am not very good inventing, I decided to present you a translation of a series originally written in Spanish, Someone to lean on, I read this story not long ago, and I liked it so much that I really wanted to translate it, since I am an expert in English (well, not), so here it is.

I want to apologize beforehand, for any possible mistake of conjugation, use of words, etc. I tried very hard not to screw it, but I am human so I could have made some mistakes, so please, be merciful and tell me if I did something wrong; in addition, I want to say this is not a ONE HUNDRED PERCENT faithful translation, sometimes I had to change some things because I didn't know how to translate them, and other times I added some details to make the reading a bit easier, but no need to worry, the story was not modified at all.

Finally, I want to know if you liked this first chapter, it took me several days to translate it, and I want to know if it is worth to complete the rest of the series, so please, if you liked it, tell me.

I have nothing else to say, enjoy the reading!

Link to the cover image: art/Zootopia-El-regalo-600466540

Link to the original work: s/11850299/1/Someone-to-lean-on

* * *

 **SOMEONE TO LEAN ON**

 **WRITTEN BY: Nefertari Queen**

 **TRANSLATED BY: JuanLMejiaG**

 **COVER IMAGE BY: Angelus19**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 1:** The Tigerwild case

Judy Hoops woke up early that morning, thrilled and ready for a new day as police officer. She hurried up, put on her sport clothes and went out to jog by the streets; she liked to start the day exercising.

She jogged and listened music as she thought of how fast her life changed so much. She had been living in Zootopia for three years and she had turned into a respected police officer.

¡She had fulfilled her dream! And if that were not good enough, she had a fox as her best friend. If somebody told her that some years ago, she would not have believed it.

Since Nick became a cop, they both were inseparable partners, as much in the work as in their free time, despite teasing each other often and having their differences, they trusted each other and appreciated each other because of that.

After years of friendship, Judy could assure that she completely trusted in her fox friend (her parent did not resign to that friendship for years, tough) and could say sincerely that Nick was a very important part on her life, perhaps the most important below her job and family.

¿And how could he not be, if she hung out with him every time she could? Since they were best friends, they used to go together to cinemas, restaurants, or malls, just to pass the time.

Judy even had a copy of Nick's apartment key and some clothes in there, because she used to go to visit him, and sometimes she spent the night there (and vice versa, Nick had a copy of Judy´s apartment key).

Their coworkers regarded them as a matchless duo, and they both liked that. For years, both of them were alone, with nothing but their disappointment and dreams, until they met, and found on the other the strength and confidence they always needed.

Returning to her apartment, Judy thought of Nick, recalling that his birthday was coming up, in two week to be more specific, and reminded herself to buy a gift, Nick used to give her beautiful gifts on her birthday, and she felt the urgent need of surpassing him.

She reached her apartment's door, tired yet happy, and saw there was a newspaper on the floor at the entrance, she picked it up and read the header:

—"Andrew Liunferth gives a speech against marital reform"— It said; just reading that caused all Judy's good mood to vanish, she threw the newspaper over the desk without reading the rest of the new, hastily she took a bath and put on her uniform, trying not to think of that Andrew guy as she did.

Zootopia was a city that swelled with pride for its motto, which claimed that there, anyone could do and be anything, but that phrase was not precisely true, at least, not at all.

Societies change as years pass, but those changes are gradual, and sometimes, too slow compared to how fast life goes on.

Judy Hoops realized that when she broke stigma by becoming an efficient and respected cop, despite being a little bunny.

Only large strong animals performed the police tasks for years, indirectly disparaging the small species. Judy was not only the first small animal in being a cop, and she proved with her actions how effective she could be, encouraging thousands of tiny mammals to enroll themselves in the police academy.

That change was relatively fast, even though some animals still showed reserved about it, Judy's kindness and enthusiasm infused confidence, making the transition a bit easier.

Nevertheless, there were many other issues which were not going that good, which were disputed by specialists, arousing heat discussions.

The most polemical and resent case was a marital reform, which intended to allow the marriage between animals of different species and of the same gender.

Those couples had been years demanding to be recognized, causing the disgust of conservatives mammals who regarded these relationships as anti natural. After decades of pushing, the congress was finally appraising the option of modifying the law and recognize them, through a series of of debates that seemed to last an eternity.

The citizens were split in two: those who supported the reform, and those who rejected it; meanwhile, the congress met every day in order to discuss the viability of the project.

Judy kept one eye on the congress debates with genuine concern. If all the species were able to live together in peace and harmony, ¿why couldn't they love each other too? She had been living in Zootopia for three years and many of her friends were couple with animals of other species, she understood they might be a bit stunning at first sight, but they were kind and loved each other as much as the intraspecific couples did.

She was concerned since the citizens seemed to be showing too homophobic and racist, the same way they did toward predators three years ago, just because of unjustified prejudices that hurt many noble mammals.

However, to be honest, she could not do nothing about it but keep aware of the congress' decisions; the reform was not something affecting her anyway.

She walked to the police station as she plunged in her earbuds in order to listen the radio; it was transmitting the specialists' opinions about the polemical reform.

—"¿How can two animals of different species be a couple? That's just not natural, that can't simply get along nor understand each other at all, plus, ¿what about the raising issue? The reform is appraising the possibility of allowing inter-species to adopt, just try to imagine the great harm it would be for those innocent children to have such an insane parents? ¡There got to be limits, sir!"— It was just another speech from Andrew Liunferth, one of the most passionate reform opponents.

Judy rolled her eyes at those offensive comments, then shifted stations until she found up one that was running Gazelle's songs, so kept listening them until arrive at the police station.

She entered the quarters, greeting everyone there until she reached the room where they would be assigned the today's missions, for Judy's surprise, Nick was sitting right there, with the both of his arms crossed behind his head.

—"What a miracle! Why are you in time today?"— She asked as sat down beside him, her fox partner used to be late.

—"It won't hurt me to rise early once in a while"— He replied in his usual relaxed way—"Plus, if I'm late one more time I might be reduced my salary"

Judy rolled her eyes; money was the only thing able to put Nick on the straight path.

Then, chief Bogo got into the room huffing, causing everyone there to keep silence at the buffalo evident bad mood.

Bogo threw some dossiers onto his desk and took a deep breath, calming down. He started assigning all the officers simple cases and patrolled zones, they all left the room one by one until there were just Nick and Judy left there.

—"You two, come here!"— His voice sounded serious, the fox and the bunny walked to his desk cautiously.

—"Did Nick blew it up again?"— Judy thought to herself, thinking of her partner's pranks, which made the chief so mad that he had already reprimanded him a few times.

Bogo handled them the remaining dossier onto his desk, it was little, and Judy had just started reading it when the chief spoke again in a heavy and angry tone.

—"Quite important case, the major's gonna kill me if it's not solved soon."— He said, a threatening deed in his words—"I expect to have good results in forty-eighth hours, burn up all the resources you need, just put that goddamn tiger in the jail! Understood?"

—"Yes sir!"—they both said as spread open the document in order to find out what it was about.

—"Tigerwild case"— Judy started reading aloud so Nick can follow—"In the Sahara square, a female young tiger and a males young jaguar were found dead in an average apartment, it seemed to be a premeditated murder, the evidences indicate they were a couple, and put the female tiger's brother as the main murder suspect"

They both stayed quite and silent, until Judy spoke:

—"This is pretty bad, with all the mess about the reform, this might be an inconvenient"

—"Let's go then"—Nick closed together the documents and picked out the keys to the police cruiser—"We gotta hurry up if we want to catch the murderer"

Despite being a significantly big city, Zootopia rarely had such a severe cases, and Nick and Judy were always assigned the most important cases, since they were appreciated and respected by the citizens for never leaving any case unsolved.

—"Do you think it may be a case of homophobia?"—Judy asked as Nick drove to the crime scene.

—"It's very probable"—Nick seemed to be tense, Judy knew very well that cases like that, related with intolerance and abuse, touched deeply inside her partner, despite he tried hard not to show it.

—"We must to be careful, if it's raised up by media, the case might be manipulated and turn into an inconvenient to the reform"—it was a perfect header to a sensationalist article, which could be used to either benefit or to prejudice the marital reform.

—"That's surely why the major's pushing the chief so hard to settle it, he doesn't want this to get out of control"— Nick was driving faster than usual, he was obviously furious—"There's no clear information in the dossiers, but if it was her brother who…"

—"It's a tragedy, I know, but there's nothing to do but get the culprit"

Nick did not say anything.

* * *

The case was tiring on so many levels. The apartment was filled with evidences, the corpses were taken to the morgue where forensic scientists would study on them, it was evident that they were murdered though, there were very deep claw marks covering their bodies.

The apartment belonged a zebra, and it was rented by twin eighteen years old Bengal tigers: Lori and Michael Tigerwild. The neighbors said the two siblings did not get along, and apparently, the jaguar guy used to visit the apartment, especially when Michael was gone.

The couple of cops continued with the investigation by identifying the male jaguar, whose name was Tobias Wilkes, a twenty years old university student, he and the twin tigers went together to the same university, and presumably, they met there.

They continued with the investigation by looking for the tigers' relatives and friends and inquired them about the case, everything indicated that Tobias was friend of Michael, but he had a romantic relationship with Lori he tried to hide.

One Lori's friend confirmed it, and told Nick and Judy that the couple kept their relationship as a secret because Tigerwild family was extremely homophobic, dogmatic conservatives who firmly rejected the marital liberalism. Lori feared her parents could force her away from Tobias, with Michael's help, with whom she never get along despite being siblings.

Not long after they finished the Lori's friend interrogation, Nick received the autopsy report, tiger claws made the wounds covering the corpses, and they contained Michal Tigerwild's DNA.

With all the new evidence, the case was solved up and Bogo received the results in just thirty-six hours. Michael had found the lovers together in the apartment and in moment of homophobic fury, he killed them. For both Judy and Nick's horror, Michael was being hidden by his parents, who even fended him from the officers.

Michael was arrested under murder charges, but he and his parents manifested not to regret anything.

—"Lori's better dead than with that jaguar, even if she did still alive, I would still say my daughter's dead, at least with her death we were delivered from dishonor of her grotesque and anti-natural actions"— Her father stated, the officers tried to hold It off, but his words reached the media, and the hell was unleashed.

* * *

—"I just don't get it!"— Judy said, she was sitting in front of Nick in a rather empty restaurant, once the exhausting case was ended up, they both went off to dine, they needed a rest—"How can a father talk about his daughter that way!"

—"Some creatures don't deserve to have a family"— Nick was calmer than his partner was, the case made him feel indignant and powerless, but at least they had done their job, and thanks to him and Hoops, the murderer was going to spend a long season in the jail.

—"I can't believe it; I think I'll never be able to overcome this. I never heard such a heartless words in my three years as a cop"

—"Calm down, Carrots, these things are beyond any rational explanation"—He said as he tried to convince himself of that.

Judy noticed Nick was calmer than before and felt envy of him for that, he was able to disconnect himself from affairs around; on the other hand, whenever Judy dealt with shocking cases, it took her several days to recover the control over her emotions.

—"And we didn't even stop the story from reaching the media, I can imagine what kind of thing will be broadcasted tomorrow"— Judy said finally.

—"That was not our fault, a case like this couldn't have been hidden easily"— Nick replied.

—"The congress said they were going to release the verdict in two weeks, but I´m sure it'll be delayed because of this plight"

—"It may be, but that's none of our business. We are cops, not policies"

—"Yeah, it´s just that I'm sick of hearing about that stupid debate everywhere, and listen to those stupid conservatives´ racist theories"

—"You're giving excessive importance to people who aren't worth"—Nick slurped his smoothie, forcing himself to keep calm, he agreed with Judy, but didn´t want worry about things he could not control.

—"Maybe you're right, but it still makes me sick"

—"If it does, then you just don't listen the radio, why don't you bunnies make it easy?"

—"Perhaps, because we are not so cynical as foxes are"—Judy knew that Nick joked like that when he wanted to switch the conversation to another topic, and despite she remained firm in her opinion, but it had been a hard tiring day, so she decided to let it go.

—"Nor so sly, nor so intelligent"— Nick said.

—"But we are faster than you are"

—"Hey, foxes aren't perfect, well, not all of them, as you know, I'm an exception"

—"Dream on, you dumb fox"— Judy said, caressing Nick's shoulder in a playful sign of condolence, and they smiled at each other with sympathy, they stayed like that for a while, enjoying the other´s company.

When they finished their dinner, the couple made the way home, Judy's house was close to Nick's one, so they walked along together until he turned the corner to the right and headed off to his apartment; Judy stared at him as he carelessly walked away with his paws in the pockets, and vanished into the darkness, a warm smile widened on her face for no apparent reason.

Judy arrived to the apartment, which was large thanks to her raises and bonuses, it consisted of a kitchen, a living room, and a bedroom with its own bathroom included, she took a long shower before lying down into the bed, but she couldn´t sleep soon. Staring at the ceiling, with her ears up in signal if vigil, she thought of the Tigerwild case and indignation came back abruptly to her mind.

Why did it make her blood boil so much? She certainly hated violence and supported equality, but lately she felt like the debates about the marital reform were affecting her more than they should.

The most of animals were neutral, and did not express neither approval nor disapproval; they seemed indifferent about it. A few stubborn conservatives alleged stormily against the reform, and the interspecies couples fended themselves and pleaded for being recognized.

Somehow, Judy, who was part of none of those factions, pried into the political debate as if she was a couple with an animal of other species, but she was single and far from falling in love.

Then, why did this issue affect her that much?

Her cellphone rang announcing a new message; she picked it up and read it with half-closed eyes.

—"You gotta sleep"

It was from Nick; she chuckled, half flattered and half touched that her partner knew her enough to reckon she was still awake.

—"I'm still thinking of the case" —Judy tapped the send button; the reply arrived in less than ten seconds.

—"Go to sleep, Carrots, your work's done"— It was true, but, how to explain him how offended she felt, like if it was her the one whose brother killed, like if that heartless father´s words were intended to her? Did that make any sense?

—"I'll try, thanks Nick"

—"You're welcome, good night"

Judy placed her cell phone onto the mattress and snuggled. She thought that it was ridiculous to feel offended for something she had nothing to do with, but her mind, exhausted for the long tiring case, finally gave up and she fell asleep; her last thought was Nick, smiling and telling her to calm down.

* * *

—"The Tigerwild case has shocked the whole city, being differently interpreted by the diversity of factions debating about the marital reform, which still being appraised by the congress. Conservatives like Andrew Liunferth reiterates on how anti-natural interspecies relationships are, emphasizing how they are able to shatter families apart, leading to feud and, in extreme cases, to murder, just like this pitiful case. On the other hand, activists like Mary Topperwerth allege that this sort of actions are the ones that aren't natural, and affirm the importance of raising awareness about boundless homophobia, which impede the animal's individual development. A spokesman from the congress declared…"

Chief Bogo turned off the TV of the cafeteria, for everyone's relief, nobody wanted to pay much attention to the situation. Judy pulled her ears down, evidently disappointed, she had been expecting those sensationalist broadcasts since the last day, but things were going worse than she imagined.

Nick, who was sitting at the same table Judy was, seemed not to be interested, causing her to be both stunned and angry.

There weren't exciting cases that day, so it was actually calm, fulfilling some paperwork and avoiding television and radios. There were twenty minutes to the leaving time, and Nick and Judy were just writing and sending the last reports of the day, silent and alone.

Judy was barely able to stand the silence, but she was still a bit angry with Nick for his apathy, so she just plunged in her earbuds and listened music. Everything nice until a transmission came up, announcing that the congress delayed the verdict for another six weeks, rather than two.

Judy headed a sigh, and brusquely saved the archives and dossiers into her desk drawers, displaying a furious expression.

—"If you keep nosing into it, you'll get ill, Carrots"

¡Just what she needed! The inappropriate and imprudent comments from the stupid and lucky fox… However, that day she wasn't going to stand them.

—"I know you care anyone but yourself, but I do care about those animals who have spent years fighting for the rights they're being denied"

—"Wow"— Nick said, placing a pile of papers onto his desk, and turning to face the enraged bunny—"Where did that come from? This is not my fault"

—"No, but your indifference drives me mad, can't you pretend you care about anything once in a while?"

—"Wait! My indifference drives you mad? How should I act then? It's not like that reform had something to do with me, nor with you, or perhaps you've got an otter boyfriend I haven't met yet?"

—"No, but…"

—"No buts! Why should we get stressed for something that doesn't affect us?"

—"Perhaps it does?"

—"How exactly?"— Nick said crossing his arms and raising one eyebrow.

—"It affects many animals!"— Judy said, louder than she expected, she was furious.

—"But not us"

—"Not me, but what about you?"

—"Me? Why would that affect me?"

—"Because… Because… Well… Because you shouldn't be so insensitive!"— Judy yelled at him.

—"Do you want me to be sensitive? Okay, I will tell you what I think; I think that all those stupid conservatives have never felt love, because if they had really felt it, they would know that when you love someone everything supposed to drive you away, bring you closer, differences may be annoying but love can turn them into virtues, when you love someone, it doesn't matter if she's an unbearable, restless, grumpy creature worrying about all around her, you still desiring to see her every day and you find it funny when she gets angry, because it's then when she looks the most adorable despite she wants to look menacing; you want to protect her, cheer her up, and keep her away from any danger. When you love someone, nothing matters but see that person happy, what is the freaking matter with being of different species or the same gender? Those conservatives are bitter people, who want to embitter other ones, and you're allowing them to do it to you, and that, Judy, really drives me mad"

When Nick finished his speech, his expression tensed up, he had revealed many of his deepest feelings and feared he had screwed it up. Judy was amazed, her ears tensed up, in an attempt to process all her partner and best friend had just said.

Although he sounded a bit anxious, his words resembled a love confession. Nick started hyperventilating, he was aware there was no turning back, and nothing would be the same between them after that. He took off his police hat, angry with himself, and hastily walked out the office, muttering:

—"See you later"

The bunny was dazed, how to interpret those words? At the end, she felt like she needed explanations from Nick himself, before jumping to wrong conclusions. She used her super hearing sense and heard that Nick was still in the police station, so she rushed to get him, thanking that she was faster than him.

—"Nick, wait!"— She shouted, Nick was about to reach the door and he was clearly ignoring her—"Nick!"

He walked out through the door and Judy lunged after him, she was about to intercept him, it was then when a wall of microphones closed around them, blinding lights aimed to the couple and a sea of voices rang into their ears. There was no way out, the mob of journalists desirous of news about the Tigerwild case, had been waiting for them some minutes ago.

Bewildered and cornered, Nick and Judy could not neither move at that harassment, nor clear what happened just some minutes ago.

 **TO BE CONTINUED**


	2. Chapter 2:The cup of coffee

**I DO NOT OWN ANY OF ZOOTOPIA CHARACTERS; I MADE THIS WORK ONLY TO ENTERTAIN AND NOT TO PROFIT.**

Hi there! Here I come, with the second chapter of this series, I've seen the first chapter has been slightly well received, so I thought uploading the next might increase the number of readers (though, maybe I am wrong).

I have no much to say, so you'd better start reading right now and tell me your opinion later.

Enjoy the reading!

Link to the cover image: art/Zootopia-El-regalo-600466540

Link to the original work: s/11850299/1/Someone-to-lean-on

* * *

 **SOMEONE TO LEAN ON**

 **WRITTEN BY: Nefertari Queen**

 **TRANSLATED BY: JuanLMejiaG**

 **COVER IMAGE BY: Angelus19**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 2:** The cup of coffee

—"Officer Hoops, what's your opinion about the Tigerwild case?"

—"Officer Wilde, how do you feel for arresting the murderer Tigerwild?"

—"Officer Hoops, do you think the youngster Tigerwild's actions are justified?"

—"Officer Wilde, what's your opinion about the marital reform?"

—"Officer Hoops, do you regard yourself as homophobic?"

—"Officer Wilde, do you support the Tigerwild family?"

Officer, officer, officer, officer…

Questions, lights, photos, microphones, cameras all around… Everything turned into a sea of confusion; Judy and Nick were barely able to utter a few words. Fortunately, their coworkers repelled the crowd of reporters, and escorted the couple far away from the ruckus, although the cameras and the harassing questions followed them a bit longer.

Nick turned the corner at the parking zone and slid away among the cruisers; Judy kept walking and scurried by the avenue leading her home. No matter how much she wanted to talk to Nick about those strange words of his, they had to scatter if they wanted to avoid those nosing reporters and their annoying interrogations. Judy headed a sigh and decided to go to her favorite restaurant rather than her apartment, since it was probably crowded with paparazzi waiting for her.

—"We've got long days ahead of them"— She thought, since the media were not going to let neither Judy nor Nick alone until they got answers from them.

Nick, on his own, taking advantage of the confusion, walked as far away from the center of the city as possible, avoiding any undesirable meeting. He knew he could not escape eternally, but he urgently needed some minutes to meditate, to be alone, to think of why on the earth he said such an unchecked words.

They were not lies. He had spent the last three months being aware of his love to her, and hence, in a constant attempting to hide it, how did he fall in love with her? Nick had no clear answer to that question. Nick meditated about it sometimes, but his reasoning led him always to the same dead end.

Nick remembered when and how he met Judy, then, he was a con artist running from law, and she was the embodiment of justice, the perfect police who lives only to encourage rules. An utterly unlike duo. However, as they worked together on the case that put Bellwether behind bars, they built a stable and deep friendship.

Nick lived many years distrusting everyone, but it was relatively easy for him to trust Judy. She was the purest animal he ever met, she was unable to deceive, she didn't even knew lying, it was almost impossible not to trust her. When he realized it, that cute bunny turned into his best friend, perhaps, his only friend.

As he spent more time with her, his feelings grew stronger. He didn't plan it to fall in love with her, but he didn't regret it. If there was someone in Zootopia who deserved the eternal love of that distrustful fox, it was Judy, the only one who understood him and who he would lay his life down for, if necessary. Nick admired that bunny who fought so hard for her dreams and, in the process, changed his life, guiding him to a new path, one he could be proud of.

Yes, he was in love with Judy Hoops, he barely realized it three months ago, when the little bunny h had a date with an elegant hare from the center of city. His blood boiled with anger for no good reason, and he felt extremely happy when they decided to break up. It was not necessary to be an expert to recognize the jealousy, and it was easy to link jealousy with love. From that day on, he tried his best to behave as natural as always, pretending to feel anything but the companionship they were used to.

During his sleepless nights thinking of Judy, Nick never considered declaring his feelings, for many reasons, but three of them were the most important ones. First, he didn't regard himself as deserving of Judy, she was too valuable, full of virtues and dreams, she deserved someone she could admire, someone she could see her future in, not a cheater fox who simply had good luck. Second, he didn't want to risk their friendship, which was the only good thing in his life, and which kept him close her, he would never throw that chance of being with her away, even if she didn't love him the way he wanted, just being at her side was enough for him. Finally, interspecific relationships were looked down upon; he didn't feel ashamed for being in love with a bunny, but Judy shouldn't be exposed to backlash.

Then, how on the earth did he dare to screw all up some minutes ago?

He was not as insensitive as he pretended to be, of course he felt offended and prejudiced by all about the marital reform. On his most optimistic moments, he even considered trying to get closer Judy if the reform was approved, when he had nothing to lose, but he never was an expressive fox, and despite it was a bit easier to be expressive with Judy, he didn't want to expose himself to blow it, like he had just done.

In three years of friendship, Nick and Judy built strong bonds of companionship; the fox was aware that his partner knew him very well, and hence, it was going to be difficult to get away of that mess he did. The most he thought of it, the most it seemed to be getting more complex, he didn't say explicitly "I love you", but he implied it, and Judy knew him enough to recognize those weren't words said randomly.

Nick was so distracted that he didn't realize where his paws brought him, when he did, it was getting dark. He was in an alleyway near the Tundratown limits; it was a dangerous and lonely part of Zootopia he knew perfectly. He sighed melancholically, took off his police badge and saved it into his pocket, just to be safer, kept walking and turned the next corner to the right; it was then when he found an old and familiar truck.

—"What the heck are you doing here, Wilde?"— Nick's smile widened when he recognized that heavy and intimidating voice—"Go away, before I get angry at you!"

—"Finnick, my old friend"— He greeted with a joyful yet sarcastic tone—"Long time no see, don't you miss your lovely father?"

—"Don't you dare to say that again if you want to save your stupid tongue!"—The short fox yelled at Nick, pointing him with an iron bate—"You know I can beat you up, fox"

—"Cool down, Finnick, I'm not here to cause problems"— He crossed his arms, acting a bit sterner—"I was passing by, and I just wanted to see if you're still alive, that's all"

—"Ha, I never trusted you, Nick, but you amazed me when you became into a cop. If you've come here to arrest me, I'll remind you I've got a lot of information you don't…"

—"Cut it off, you stubborn! That's not what I came here for. Look, I'm not wearing my badge"—He said, pointing at his chest—"And you're right, I would never try to arrest you, you know too much about my movements, so calm down"

—"Then, what are you doing here? Go away!"

—"I just came to greet an old friend, but since my presence seems to be such an annoyance to you, I'd better leave…"

—"Yeah, you better! But wait, I want to know something!"

Nick slightly turned his head, and looked sideways at the tiny animal.

—"What?"— He said, since his former hustle partner said no word.

—"That case you solved, the one about that tiger, I don't remember his name"

Nick's body went tense; he didn't like the course of that conversation.

—"What about him?"

—"I know him, you know I'm not good remembering names, but I do remember faces, and that guy used to come here, he was one the customers of the hyenas"

—"The hyenas?"—Nick turned around, stared at Finnick, and desperately sought any sign of being joking in his face, but he didn't find it—"The Mark's hyenas?"

—"Yeah, and if I'm telling you this, is because I don't want to have any problem, when the police officers get to this place, I expect not to get involved, right?"—Finnick said; Nick understood his old friend wanted to stay away from the Mark's hyenas.

—"If something happens, I'll warn you, you still have the same phone number, right?"—Finnick nodded—"Good, so tell me, you said he was a customer of the hyenas, are you sure?"

—"Yes, but he didn't buy often, one or two times a month, but I remember I saw him scurrying along"

Nick appraised the information; the hyenas were drug dealers who all sorts of hallucinogenic substances, if the wretched of Michael Tigerwild was drugged up when he killed his sister and her boyfriend, it would be a great twist on the case.

—"Do you know what sort of "treats" he used to buy?"—Nick asked.

—"Of course not, you jerk; you know well that it's better to stay away from the hyenas' customers. I am telling you this in order to warn you, Nick, if you keep nosing into this, you might get in severe problems."

—"would you happen to worry about me, old friend?"

—"I just want protection, and you know it, if you didn't come here, I wouldn't have sought you to tell you"

—"I get it"

Finnick looked at his former partner, and noticed something different in him. He radiated a sensation of confidence and pride, as if he felt satisfied with himself and what he, did for the first time. Finnick had never felt that way, and he knew he would never; he had resigned to his life as a hustler long time ago, and at that point in time, he was not going to exchange all his years of vices just for a good reputation amongst the citizens. If Nick changed everything he was in order to become into the first fox cop, it was just because of that bold bunny who literally pushed him to walk her own path, and for any reason, the sly of Nicholas P. Wilde fell into her trap. While he would never accept it, Finnick felt somehow happy that his companion had found a better life style and a trustworthy partner.

—"I won't annoy you anymore, so I'd better go away before some undesirable people come"— Nick winked at Finnick in that irritating way he had not seen for years, he turned around and walked away—"Take care, old friend"

—"Take care"—Finnick replied, then locked himself into his truck and tried to forget the fox with whom he had just spoken.

Judy was right at affirming he would be a sly cop. Nick knew that it was a suicide to try to continue the investigation wearing his police uniform at that hour of night and in a place like that, but he did can go to check the Tigerwild twins rented in order to search for any trace of drugs. He had to talk to his partner about that the next day.

Nick went back to his apartment ready to make up his plans for the next day. First, he would follow the trail his old friend Finnick revealed to him, hoping to find something to subside the polemic the Tigerwild case aroused. Second, he would not to let those words he said to Hoops change things between them. He couldn't pretend he didn't said them, but he did can mask himself and act as if those words weren't important at all. Why would he let things get out of control? If Judy asked something, he would simply lie and say he got upset and babbled nothing but nonsenses.

Knowing Judy, he knew that explanation wouldn't be enough to her, but she would have to resign, since he wasn't going to explain anything else. He didn't want to complicate things, he didn't want her to know his feelings, exposing him to rejection. He had to feign, like he had been doing since three months ago, he loved Judy just as a friend.

It should be easy, he was a fox after all, and lying was in his DNA, wasn't it?

* * *

Judy arrived to the small apartment she rented the first time she ever moved to Zootopia. While now she had a much bigger apartment, she did not get rid of that one because it reminded her how low she started and how high she reached by her efforts and merits. She laid down on the small bed, thinking of Nick's words and feeling confused for them.

Her loud neighbors were listening heavy music at full volume, impeding her to think clearly. She felt somehow thankful for that, because she didn't want to jump to conclusions. She had been friends with Nick for too much time to let their friendship end for a misunderstanding. She stared at the ceiling, as she recalled all the changes her life had made, and thought of how proud she felt for fulfilling her dreams.

Sometimes she thought of giving back the apartment key, Nick told her that she could buy a car with the money she spent on it, but she wasn't interested in that. Beside from reminding her origins, that place gave her a sensation of safety. Judy was proud of herself, but she still was a country bunny who felt stressed by the accelerated life of city, and that cornered apartment reminded her the burrows she was raised in. It might be childish and ridiculous, but that chamber was all remaining of that naïve Judy who arrived to Zootopia full of utopian thoughts and dreams to fulfill. She had changed, to better, but that change somehow scared her, and once in a while, she liked to go back to the past, to her former being.

That was why she came here, unwilling to recall Nick's words and expressions, acting as if it didn't happen and wanting to go back to that time when foxes were away from her life. Perhaps, she was just thinking too much, but when Nick said those words, her heart flinched, arousing a pleasant warm, a feeling she never felt before, so unknown yet so fulfilling. What was it? Why did it make her feel so nervous?

—"What's wrong with me?"— She whispered.

—"We don't care!"— One of her loud neighbors shouted, causing her to laugh.

—"Shut up! Don't you realize she's not been here for a long time? I do care, tell me!"— The other gazelle replied, causing Judy to laugh even more.

—"Gossiper!"

—"Insensitive!"

—"Good night!"— She shouted to end it up.

The neighbors kept talking a bit longer, but Judy didn't listen them. She snuggled, ready to sleep, it was too late, so she decided to spend the night there. She yawned as added an alarm in order to get to her job place in time, and hopefully, she could clear things with her partner. She picked up her cell phone, a little sad, Nick didn't send her a good night message as usual; that missing message was her last thought before falling asleep.

* * *

The next morning, Judy was of low mood, but ready to have a good day; she wasn't going to let her thoughts shut her down. She arrived early at the police station, as usual, and walked to the cafeteria to start the day with a cup of coffee and a doughnut. She was pleasantly amazed when she glimpsed Nick standing in front of the coffee machine.

—"Two days in time, that's a new record!"—She cheered—"Are you keeping on this from today onwards?"

—"What makes miracles so special, Carrots, is the fact they don't come around often"—Nick sipped his coffee, but he didn't turn to look at her—"It's yours"—He pointed at the machine and walked away.

Shocked, Judy started to prepare the coffee, with the recipe she liked so much: Three spoonful of sugar, one of cream, and two sugar little bags. She stirred the mix as she recalled that, during their three years as partners, Nick used to prepare a cup of coffee for her before they headed out to their missions, no day he did not.

Judy walked to the meeting room where they were supposed to wait for the chief, Nick was sitting on the edge of the chair they shared; there were just two officers beside them since it was yet too early. He displayed that relaxed and a bit sleepy expression he always had at that hour of day, but she knew something was going wrong.

—"Everything well?"—She asked as sat down beside him.

—"Yeah"—Nick said as covered his mouth and yawned—"Ignoring the fact I'm working at this time of day, everything perfect"

—"You seem a bit weird"

—"Why?"

—"I don't know, since you said those words yesterday… you've been different"

—"I think you're exaggerating, Carrots"—He said as shrugged—"You were very upset yesterday, are you better?"

—"Yes… Well… No, I was just wondering…"—Judy found the courage, and asked him what she had been thinking since the last day—"What did you mean yesterday?"

—"What did I mean?"—Nick raised one single eyebrow.

—"You know what I'm talking about, that you told me yesterday, before leaving"

—"I simply told you my opinion about the reform"—He said as slurped his coffee—"I know I got upset, but you drove me mad, sorry if I startled you or something else"

—"You know you didn't, I just…"

—"What?"

Judy glared at him; Nick looked the same he always did, as if what he said meant nothing. Judy felt stupid for spending the last afternoon and part of the night appraising those words that, for some reason, meant so much to her; but, Why? They were a mere opinion, just like Nick said.

—"Nothing"—She said in a cool tone, and Nick said no word. That moment of silence lasted a bit longer until chief Bogo arrived and started assigning missions. There was nothing in particular that day, so they were sent to patrol the streets.

They were in the cruiser, and said nothing, until Nick finally broke the silence.

—"I found out something interesting about our dear Michael Tigerwild, by the way"

—"Really!?"—Judy flinched, and turned to him.

—"It seems like that guy drugged himself"

—"Where did you get that from?"

—"You know, I've got contacts"—He said, putting his arms behind his head.

Judy's ears lowered, whenever Nick said that she recalled her partner's criminal history, and she loathed to find out that he remained in contact with his former outlaw companions, though in a lower degree.

—"Are you sure?"

—"Absolutely, but we have no evidences"—Nick said shrugging again.

—"Well, we never had problems with finding them"—Judy attempted to sound relaxed, to lighten the atmosphere. She misunderstood him, and that was not Nick's fault. She had the rest of the afternoon to figure out why she reacted like that, why did she feel wounded just because Nick didn't give importance to that conversation they had? She had no idea, but that question could wait.

Nick, on the other hand, sighed relieved that Judy decided to forget the issue. He did not want to expose himself again, so he decided to slightly distance himself emotionally from the little bunny, leaving some insignificant habits like preparing a cup of coffee to her in the morning, and sending her messages in the night. It was not that he didn't love her, he adored her, but he wasn't masochistic and he didn't want to have fake hopes, he had to force himself to see Judy as another friend, to avoid another screw up that might risk his fragile emotional health.

That noon, they started with the investigation with their new clues; none of them mentioned the incident and attempted to behave as normally as possible, but it was a tiring day for both of them, something was changing no matter how much they denied it.

* * *

Three days later, it was Friday, weekend was coming up, and the couple of cops would have time to rest their tired minds after that agitated week. On Thursday, they gave Bogo the report that confirmed that Michael Tigerwild got high, which was a great twist in the case; after all, the situation was quite different now they knew the murderer was a drug addicted, since he could have committed the crime not because of excessive homophobia, but because of the effects of hallucinogenic substances.

The media kept pestering Nick and Judy, but none of them declared anything yet. Judy didn't want to give wrong information, like when she hurt Nick during her press conference three years ago; she was aware that she had to answer sooner or later, but she wanted to wait until having something coherent and justified to reveal.

Judy sat down at the meeting room, with a cup of hot coffee in her hands, meditating. Nick no longer prepared her favorite coffee in the morning, or sending messages to her in the night; and while it were unimportant details, it hurt her to notice them. She looked down at her cup; it was yellow, with a big smiling carrot on it. It was a gift from Nick; he gave it to her on her first birthday they spent together, despite it was a bit childish, Judy adored that cup and used it from that day onwards. It made her day to see Nick shoving the yellow cup toward her, with his flirtatious smile of sly fox.

She turned to look at Nick, who was sitting beside her, absorbed by some thought, sipping his coffee. Those mornings of joy were over. At least, Nick still sent messages to her occasionally, but Judy felt as if Nick were distancing more and more every day. Perhaps, it was just her, exaggerating things again, so she didn't commented about it, though she felt sad when she thought of it.

Chief Bogo sent them to patrol the center of the city, they caught two thieves that day, but they still could not feel happy. In the afternoon, when they were writing the reports about the robbery, Judy tried something.

—"May you prepare coffee to me?"— She asked when saw Nick walking to the cafeteria.

—"Sure"—He grabbed the yellow cup and went away; he came back five minutes later with two full cups.

Judy drank gladly—"at least I can still ask him for favors"—She thought; that sounded stupid and she knew it, but she desperately needed a sign to indicate her that things were fine between them.

—"Hey, do you have any plan for tomorrow? I have nothing to do, but I would like you to come with me to that new restaurant in the rain forest district"

—"I would love it, Carrots, but I do have plans"—When Nick noticed that Judy's ears lowered to her back, he added—"My sister's coming to visit me"

Judy nodded, that was certainly important.

—"greet her for me"—She said.

—"Sure, Carrots"

In other circumstances, she would have said they could hang out any other day, but she didn't. She told herself she was exaggerating, but she couldn't help but feel turned down and wounded. Finally, it was time to go back home, Judy said good-bye to Nick hastily and ran out to her apartment.

He saw her running away as he felt his heart shriveling; he felt terrible with himself, because he lied her for the first time in years. He actually was not going to meet his sister; he just didn't want to hang out with Judy, he didn't want to expose himself anymore, he didn't want to cause more uncomfortable situations. However, the guilt for lying her was just awful, Judy had always been sincere with him, she didn't deserve it; but what should he do then?

As Nick shuffled to his own apartment, he realized that, for the first time in years, he felt completely dejected.

 **TO BE CONTINUED**


	3. Chapter 3:Forty-eight hours

**I DO NOT OWN ANY OF ZOOTOPIA CHARACTERS; I MADE THIS WORK ONLY TO ENTERTAIN AND NOT TO PROFIT.**

HI EVERYONE! I'm back with the third chapter of Someone to lean on, I know it took me a bit long to upload it, but I've been a little busy lately, but don't worry, I'm not gonna leave this series undone, and I'll try to bring the next chapter as soon as possible.

By the way, don't ask me why I wrote "Nexflix" rather than "Netflix" in the beginning, it was that way in the original, and I don't know if it's some kind of pun or something else (if it is, I didn't get it), so I left it untouched.

I have nothing else to say, just enjoy this chapter, because it costed me a great effort to translate it.

Link to the cover image: art/Zootopia-El-regalo-600466540

Link to the original work: s/11850299/1/Someone-to-lean-on

* * *

 **SOMEONE TO LEAN ON**

 **WRITTEN BY: Nefertari Queen**

 **TRANSLATED BY: JuanLMejiaG**

 **COVER IMAGE BY: Angelus19**

* * *

 **CHAPTER 3:** Forty-eight hours

—Saturday—

When Judy woke up that morning, she snuggled beneath the sheets, in an attempt to sleep a bit longer, she didn't want to go through that day. Unfortunately, despite she had lived in the city for three years, she spent twenty five years at her parents' farm where rabbits raised up on time with the sun in order to start with the agricultural activities, so no mattered how hard she tried, she couldn't keep sleeping.

Judy sat up, grabbed some pillows and snugged them against the headboard, leaned on the soft cushion, picked up the remote control and turned on the television before the bed; that morning, she didn't want to do nothing. She opened the app Nerflix and looked for a movie that might be interesting, as she mentally prepared to spend the whole day on bed.

During the last week, she felt as if Nick was distancing himself from her, she noticed it in details that seemed so insignificant that made her feel dumb and emotional for caring about them, however, she couldn't help but do it, and that feeling pierced her heart. Nick no longer sent messages to her, he turned down her invitation to hang out, and he didn't prepare her favorite coffee in the mornings. Judy just didn't understand neither why Nick was getting away from her, nor why she felt so bad about it.

She always took for granted that Nick and she were close friends, and she liked it, she had a lot of fun with her fox partner, but she never thought that she could be dependent upon him. She had missed him before, whenever she spent a couple of days with her parents or when he went to visit his sister, but that time was different, or at least, she liked to think it was.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the ringtone of her cell phone, someone was calling, her ears raised with enthusiasm since she thought it might be Nick, she picked up the cell phone and her ears slightly lowered because the photo on the screen wasn't the one of Nick but the one of her parents; Judy tapped the green button as she tried to hide her disappointment.

—" _Hello Judy-dudy! How's my little girl?_ "—It was only her father, who seemed to be cheerful.

—"Hello dad, I'm fine, where's mom?"

—" _She's cooking the dinner_ "

—"Great, give her my greetings, please"

—" _Sure darling, so then, everything well in the city?_ "

—"Yes, everything perfect"—Judy replied as she internally said—"Well, not so perfect"

—" _Good to hear. I called to say that Gideon Gray, do yo remember him?_ "

—"Of course, daddy"—She rolled her eyes, how could she ever forget that fox?

—" _Well, he's getting married, and we're invited to the wedding, it's the next weekend, do you think you could come?_ "

—"The next weekend?"

—" _Yes, Saturday to be more specific_ "

Judy appraised his proposal, she used to hang out with Nick on Saturday, but since they were distanced lately (thinking of it gave her a twinge of pain), she surely could leave the city without worrying.

—"I think I could go dad, I haven't visited you in a long time, and I would like to meet the poor women Gideon's marrying"—She chucked of her own joke and her father smiled at her response.

—" _We'll clean your room right now! Your siblings will be thrilled when I tell them you're coming!_ "

—"Thanks dad, well, I'll call you later"

—" _Great dear, have a nice day, we love you!_ "

—"I love you too, dad"

She ended the call and meditated about what her father had just told her, Gideon Grey's getting married? The truth was that all her friends were married or at least engaged, they all were old enough to settle down and raise their own families; Judy's mother has said her that she was eagerly waiting for grandsons. She never thought so much about her future as wife or mother, her only plan was to become a police officer, and she never aspired anything but the world of justice.

But maybe it was time to change that mentality. Her last date had been three months earlier, with an elegant and polite rabbit whose name was Brand Reyson, he was a good guy, but he had no much in common with Judy, and she was too busy to dedicate more time than its due to a relationship she wasn't completely interested in, so they broke up.

Would it happen to be what was going up with Nick? He was seven years older than her, it would be natural for him to be looking for his own family. Nick spent too much time with her, he probably wanted to have dates, meet a pretty vixen that was good for him; just thinking of it caused Judy to feel wounded and rejected, and the worst part was that she couldn't explain why.

Nick was her best friend, things between them would change a lot if he did get girlfriend; things between were already changing though, could it be that the naughty of Nicholas P. Wilde had already got a girlfriend she hadn't met yet? Impossible! Judy wrinkled her nose in utter fury; if Nick had a girlfriend, he would have already told her ¡she was her best friend! She was sure that he would keep her updated about his love affairs...wouldn't he?

Judy slumped onto the pillows, resigning to the fact that Nick was very unwilling to talk about his personal life. It took her one year to find out he had a sister, and another one to find out his family's story. He was a distrustful fox whose life was hard, and it meant a lot to Judy that he opened his heart to her, though slowly, healing the wounds from his past bit by bit. However, would he tell her if he had a girlfriend? One voice within her answered yes, but another one answered no. A situation like that was beyond her compression.

—"Stupid distrustful foxes"—She thought as she started watching the movie she chose, though not paying attention to it. Perhaps she could ask Nick about the affair, and discuss about love issues; as far as she knew, her fox friend had never had girlfriends, though he was a significantly handsome specimen among his counterparts with his reddish silky fur, his penetrating green eyes and his whimsical smirk…

—"What am I thinking?"—Judy rebuked herself for her thoughts and strived to pay attention to the movie she had been watching; she had already thought plenty of Nick.

* * *

In another apartment not far away, Nick Wilde was preparing a light breakfast to himself, getting ready to take a stroll along the city. Actually, he had nothing to do, he simply did rather to hang out and clear his mind than staying at home and letting his thoughts bring him down. He missed Judy, he couldn't deny it, but he thought that it was better to distance himself from her.

—"What if it is not?"—Those five words pierced his head both by day and night—"What if I'm screwing up again? What if I'm making things worse rather than better? What if Judy distances herself even more and we stop being friends, What kind of "wall" should I build between us so we can still being friends without exposing my feelings?"

He powered on the television in an attempt to avoid the torment of his thoughts, but the news channel was broadcasting nothing nice.

—" _New evidences indicate that Tigerwild youngster might be a drug addicted. This new information leads to the possibility that Michael Tigerwild could have killed his twin sister and her lover in a psychosis attack caused by the ingestion of hallucinogenic substances rather than for homophobia, though the murderer has not confirmed this hypothesis._

 _In other news, debates about the marital reform have become more intense; this morning the activist Mary Topperwerth led a pacific march accompanied by many interspecies couples who demanded to be recognized by both law and society. Conservative groups reacted violently, attacking the reform sympathizers, police officer were required to ward off…_ "

Nick saw on the screen how some of his coworkers contained the mob of aggressive animals who were attacking the members of the march. Horrified, he powered off the television and rushed out the apartment, ready to take a long walk. The image of those interspecies couples being attacked by those conservatives was for him as a reminder of why he had to hide his love; Judy shouldn't be exposed to that kind of animals, he had to protect her from those heated debates.

He recalled a similar situation, three years ago, when the city was menaced by Bellwether's actions, which caused predators to start going savage, he remembered how many preys raised against them. He was a predator, so he felt offended and attacked about it. Now, with all the reform stuff, he felt offended and attacked once again, though he kept it hidden in order not to conceal his feelings. He felt as if that city rejected him more and more every day, and that made him wonder why he never threw it all away and left, just like his sister did.

Between his sorrow and confusion, one new feeling arose: anger. He was irate since he didn't know what to do to solve his delicate emotional situation. Perhaps, that was how conservatives felt, so confused and rejected that they just wanted to take it out on someone, even if the given someone had no blame.

Unfortunately, as soon as he stepped out the building, many reporters were outside waiting for him—"Do you never rest?"—He thought as they surrounded him and started pestering him, however, unlike that morning affair, this time there were not anyone to protect him from the swarm of microphones and cameras.

¡Officer! ¡officer! ¡officer! ¡officer! ¡officer!

—"Stop!"—He internally shouted—"What the heck do you want from me!?"

—"What's your opinion about the marital reform?"—Questions flew all around, but for some stupid reason Nick would never understand, he only answered that one.

—"I disagree with the conservatives, but I really understand them"—That was all he said, not knowing if he said it to himself or to the media; he just wanted to be left alone, so he didn't grasp the impact of those words of his.

¡Officer!¡officer!

He just ignored them and returned to his walk; he walked further and further until he lost sight of the microphones, and it was left just him and his thoughts.

* * *

At noon, Judy was in the kitchen of her apartment preparing a salad to herself, the radio on so she heard something in order to shun her thoughts. She put the vegetables in a bowl and took a big jar full of carrot juice out of the fridge; she was about to go back to her bedroom when the radio presenter said:

—" _In the last news, this morning, the officer Nicholas P. Wilde, a respected member of the ZPD and captor of the murderer Michael Tigerwild, in association with the officer Judy Hoops, declared that he is a sympathizer of the conservative groups that reject the marital reform..._ "

—"Nick?...No"

She rushed to the bedroom, powered on the television and switched until she reached the news channel; they were broadcasting the recordings in which Nick was seen, answering to the harassing reporters.

—" _I disagree with the conservatives, but I really understand them_ "

I disagree with them, but I understand them? Really? What was he trying to say with that? Judy noticed that Nick seemed stressed, even sad, maybe he had a problem with his sister, or he didn't sleep well since there were bags under his eyes. Perhaps he didn't mean to say that he was a sympathizer of the conservative groups; however, media had already done its magic.

Despite she knew him very well, those words caused her to doubt a bit, did Nick really mean that he was against the reform? She recalled what he told her some days earlier, about how conservatives were stupid bitter people who had never felt love; but then she recalled how Nick downplayed his own words, acting as if they were uttered randomly and without a genuine meaning.

She sat down heavily on her bed, forgetting her meal, forgetting everything, she lingered there for minutes that seemed to be hours; she was just sitting, staring at anything in the room, with many questions whirling in her head, but only one of them was really important to her:

—"Do I actually know Nick Wilde?"

* * *

—Sunday—

Nick powered off his cellphone and kept both the radio and the television off the whole day. The last day, after spending all the afternoon walking along and going from a train station to another, he arrived at his home, and he was welcomed by the broadcasting of all the sensationalist reports stating he was a sympathizer of the Conservative party, only then he realized his great mistake, and wanted to strangle himself when he did.

He stayed away from any communication media, he didn't want to see what kind of defamation they would surely be broadcasting that day; he locked himself in his apartment, and as he searched something to pass the time, he found his old collection of books placed onto a wooden shelf, all covered with dust. When he was young, he used to read a lot, but bit by bit he abandoned that good habit in order to improve in his conning skills until the books were left in a corner, far away from him.

With nostalgie, he recalled all those adventures that inspired him in his childhood. He always prefer classics over best-sellers because he thought classics were better at conveying the emotions to the readers. He remembered that, when he was young, he got to considered to abandon his illegal businesses and find a decent job, but nothing never motivated him to do it, at least, until Judy broke into his life.

Nick turned his head and gazed at his cell phone, wondering if Judy missed him as much as he missed her. At least he would see her the next day at the station, but since she probably had heard the news about him, Nick didn't know what he would have to face. Judy was a firm sympathizer of the marital reform, so she would surely be angry at him for saying such a things to the media, moreover because he had become a bit aloof with her before he did.

When Nick was a child, despite his family was not wealthy, he never lacked anything. His childhood was pleasant (ignoring the incident with the scouts) until he turned twelve, then life led him to roads he never expected to walk. At that time, he thought it was the worst thing he could ever get through, but all the current events were proving he was wrong, his feeling toward Judy Hoops were so strange yet so fulfilling, that he didn't know how to react but hiding them.

He kept reading, the whole noon, thinking of none nor nothing, enjoying of a moment of peace after such a wearing week. Memories of his childhood, his youth and his adulthood flowed between paragraphs and tear drops, causing him to reevaluate his life. It certainly was not like he expected it to be, but he couldn't complain, in spite of all the difficulties, he was happy and perhaps, life was trying to tell him something by all the current events: it was telling him to accept his happiness and leave his complexes behind, this time, permanently.

* * *

Judy gripped the invitation to Gideon's wedding, her parents sent it as soon as she acceded to go. It was addressed to her personally and it included an extra invitation if she wanted to take a companion with her. The names of Gudeon Grey and his fiancee, Amelia Wallace, were written on it with painstaking calligraphy, Judy barely remembered Amelia as a pretty vixen from the school.

The thought of going to Bunny Burrows and forget Zootopia for a couple of days suddenly turned jolly tempting. She bought the train passport and a wedding gift, as well as an elegant dress to wear, since her wardrobe barely contained her uniform and some jeans and blouses. Exploiting her stay at the supermarket, she bought some ornaments to the party and watched a movie at the cinema.

It was amazing how one single day alone, one single day walking along the streets of the city could be so relaxing; she hadn't taken lonely strolls in a long time, since Nick was always there to accompany her. She strived not to think of him, and since monday was approaching and therefore, they would meet at the job, she thought that she should start acting like he did, not caring so much about things.

That noon of shopping, walking and indulging reminded her that she was young and single in a large city full of many animals to meet and places to visit. Although she was a cop, Zootopia was still hiding some secrets, and it was her task to find them out. She had been too dramatic around her relationship with Nick lately, but she no longer would be; this time, she would be the funny one, ready to give life a chance to amaze her.

With that positive attitude she went to bed and slept with a wide smile displaying on her face. She wasn't sure if life was actually listening to her and, abiding to her pleadings, it was getting ready to amaze her, perhaps, more than she expected it to do.

* * *

—Monday—

Nick was late that morning, as usual, he entered the meeting room expecting Bogo to scold him, however, for his amazement, he simply ignored him and kept assigning the day tasks. Nick sat down beside Judy, who didn't even turned to look at him and just stayed there, waiting Bogo to assign them their mission.

—"Wilde, if you're late once again, you'll get suspended for a whole week, understood?"—Nick just nodded, Bogo's glare indicated him that it wasn't time to joke—"You and Hoops, patrol the Sahara Square, two thefts has been reported there, go on!"

—"Well, at least it's November so it won't be so hot, eh Carrots?"—Nick said, attempting to sound funny.

Judy ignored him and walked out of the room, Nick got startled and wondered what the heck had just happened.

—"Good luck"—Bogo mocked at him as he got out, the fox gulped and walked to the parking zone, Judy was already getting on the cruiser.

—"Won't you wait for me?"—He inquired as he jumped on.

—"If it takes you ten minutes to come, no"—She answered in an aloof way, she turned the key and powered on the vehicle.

—"How was your weekend?"—He started with a simple question so he could calculate his friend's degree of anger.

—"Funny"—The way she uttered the words was so cold that Judy herself didn't believe what she said; she spinned the steer wheel and drove to the avenue leading to Sahara Square.

—"Mine wasn't, to be honest, it was stressing"—Nick admitted, he thought that a little of honesty might lighten the atmosphere.

—"I saw you on the TV"

Nick already knew it, but of all the ways Judy could have reacted, he never thought she would take it so...personal.

—"I didn't mean what media's broadcasting, Judy"—He said; Judy was the only animal in the world he would ever give explanations.

—"Spare me your speech, Nicholas, I'm done"

Did his ears get it right?

—"Judy, actually..."

The little bunny raised her ears, he never called her by her name, unless he was really serious, but this time she wasn't going to let him play around her, never again.

—"Nick, whatever you think about the reform is none of my business. You have a right to have your own opinion"

—"But..."—Nick tried to said.

—"No buts, Nicholas, like you told me, it was just your opinion"

It was then when Nick understood that no matter how much Judy tried to hide it, his actions seriously damaged her. He wanted to say something else, but he had no words. Facts speak by themselves, and Judy always appreciated actions more than phrases. He was left no choice but grit the teeth and face the plight he caused.

The rest of the day was calm, without any sort of trouble. The two of them headed off to their homes without saying goodbye. Judy was playing along with Nick: they were distancing themselves from each other, and the wall he built with his words was growing every day, getting more unbridgeable and less penetrable. They both wondered if, one day, they would be able to take that wall down, but, at what cost?

 **TO BE CONTINUED**


End file.
